📱 Mobile Meanderinghttps://mobilemeandering.com
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3232Create a private and fully redundant cloud drive that you control and host on your home networkhttps://mobilemeandering.com/create-private-home-cloud-drive/
Mon, 09 Jan 2017 01:11:14 +0000http://mobilemeandering.com/?p=1097There are a lot of cloud drive options out there, but most of them are hosted and controlled by companies like Dropbox, Google, Box, Apple, and Amazon. Until now, there hasn’t been an easy way to run your own cloud drive and maintain complete control over your files. How to create a private cloud drive […]

]]>There are a lot of cloud drive options out there, but most of them are hosted and controlled by companies like Dropbox, Google, Box, Apple, and Amazon. Until now, there hasn’t been an easy way to run your own cloud drive and maintain complete control over your files.

How to create a private cloud drive

The solution is to use Drobo 5N2 and Resilio Sync (a 3rd party DroboApp). The Drobo 5N2 acts as both the cloud drive server and a redundant backup. In fact, you can have multiple hard drives fail and you still won’t lose any data!

Once you have the Drobo 5N2 connected and set up on your network, follow these steps to configure your personal and private cloud drive.

Step 1: Create a shared folder

Open the Drobo Dashboard app, click on your Drobo and then click on Shares option in the side menu. Then click on the Share Settings button.

Click on the Add button and then name the shared folder. You can name the folder whatever you want.

After you create the new Share, click on the Users button and then click on the Add button. Create the new user.

Select the user and then give it Read/Write access to the folder. Doing this does two things. First, it creates the share that will be used by Resilio Sync. Second, it allows you to optionally access the share over your home network when you’re at home. Making changes via the home network share or via Resilio will automatically sync and update everything.

Step 2: Install the Resilio Sync DroboApp

In the Drobo Dashboard app, click on Drobo Apps in the side menu. Then find the Resilio Sync app (formerly BitTorrent Sync) in the Cloud and Remote Access folder. Click on it and then click on the Install option.

Step 3: Configure Resilio Sync

After the application is running, click on the Configure option. A new window will appear with details about the application. Click on the Open link to launch the app in a new browser window.

Click on the Add Folder option and then add the shared folder you created in Step 1. Then keep the window open for use in Step 5.

Step 4: Install the Resilio app on your desktop and mobile devices

The Resilio app is available for MacOS, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD. It’s also available for all major mobile devices running iOS, Android and Windows.

Step 5: Add your devices to the DroboApp

After you install the app on your desktop and devices, return to the DroboApp in your browser (from Step 3). Click on the Gear icon and then My Devices.

Click on Link device. A QR code will appear.

Linking your mobile device

From the app on your mobile device, click on the plus sign. You can either scan the QR code to link your device or you can use the manual option and enter the key provided by the DroboApp.

Linking your desktop app

From the desktop app, click on the My Devices icon and then click on the Link Devices option. You will be presented with a QR code that’s similar to the one shown on the DroboApp. Click on the Link a desktop device manually option and then click on the Enter a key… button. Enter the key provided by the manual option in the DroboApp.

Using your private cloud drive

If you’re using the desktop app and one or more mobile devices, you will most likely want to do the one-time upgrade to Resilio Sync Pro. It unlocks a lot of cool options and you only have to pay for it once. You can now add, edit and remove files from your desktop or mobile device from anywhere in the world, and they will be automatically synced and backed up securely on your Drobo at home. Pretty cool!

]]>How to do an automated Time Machine backup without an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsulehttps://mobilemeandering.com/time-machine-backup-without-apple-time-capsule/
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 17:30:24 +0000http://mobilemeandering.com/?p=1078I’ve used Apple’s AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule for many years. The best part about their Time Capsule is how easy it’s been to automatically backup my MacBook Pro and iMac at home. Unfortunately, Apple is abandoning the development of their wireless routers. That means people will need to find a new solution for backing […]

]]>I’ve used Apple’s AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule for many years. The best part about their Time Capsule is how easy it’s been to automatically backup my MacBook Pro and iMac at home.

Unfortunately, Apple is abandoning the development of their wireless routers. That means people will need to find a new solution for backing up their laptops and other macOS computers using Time Machine. Luckily, I’ve already found a solution that works even better than Apple’s AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule.

The ultimate WiFi network and automated backup solution for macOS

After doing a significant amount of research, I chose to buy the Netgear Nighthawk X8M and Drobo 5N to replace my AirPort Extreme and two Time Capsules.

The Nighthawk X8 is the best wireless access point and router I’ve ever owned. I was using my two Time Capsules to extend my WiFi network from my main AirPort Extreme access point. While it worked well, the connection speed wasn’t ever what it should have been, and it became very slow at the other end of my home. I replaced all three access points with just one Nighthawk X8 and now our Internet speed screams from any part of my home. It’s kind of amazing and I can’t believe I’ve lived with such mediocrity for so long.

For the automated Time Machine backups, I bought a Drobo 5N and connected it via ethernet to the Nighthawk X8. The Drobo 5N is a network drive that supports up to 5 interchangeable hard drives. Depending on how you configure it, Drobo can have 2 or more drives die and you still won’t lose any backup data. Drobo 5N also supports Time Machine backups and allows you to partition space for each computer to backup to.

I sold my AirPort Extreme and two Time Capsules and now rely solely on the Nighthawk X8 for my WiFi network and the Drobo 5N to handle all of the automated Time Machine backups. So far it’s been flawless. Here’s my exact setup in case you want to do the same thing at your home:

]]>How to import Evernote into Apple Noteshttps://mobilemeandering.com/import-evernote-apple-notes/
Mon, 21 Mar 2016 23:02:25 +0000http://mobilemeandering.com/?p=1000Evernote to Apple Notes Duy9Wej5Ha5Be7 While I’ve enjoyed using Evernote, over the years it’s become too cumbersome to use. I’ve been looking for a simpler note taking app, and have slowly fallen in love with Apple Notes. They’ve added just the right amount of styling features and it supports file attachments. I’ve wanted to try […]

While I’ve enjoyed using Evernote, over the years it’s become too cumbersome to use. I’ve been looking for a simpler note taking app, and have slowly fallen in love with Apple Notes. They’ve added just the right amount of styling features and it supports file attachments.

I’ve wanted to try moving off of Evernote to Apple Notes for quite some time, but moving hundreds of notes would have taken forever. However, thanks to the OS X 10.11.4 update, you can now import Evernote notes into Apple Notes.

Import Evernote notes into Apple macOS Notes

Importing notes from Evernote into Apple Notes is surprisingly easy. Just follow these steps:

In Evernote, select all of your notes. Then from the Menu bar, click on File → Export Notes…

Save the file in the Evernote XML Format, which should be selected by default.

In Apple Notes, from the Menu bar, click on File → Import Notes…

Find and select the Evernote file you just created and that’s it!

A successful import will include everything, including PDFs and other file attachments. The greatest part about Apple Notes is that all of your notes will automatically be available on your iOS devices and browser thanks to iCloud.

One note of caution. While Apple Notes is great, it’s still not perfect and doesn’t have everything that Evernote has. For example, you can say goodbye to versioning. Hopefully one day they’ll add it, but if you can’t live without it, you may want to stay with Evernote.

]]>The best home network drive for backups, video streaming and file sharinghttps://mobilemeandering.com/best-home-network-drive/
Sat, 13 Feb 2016 23:48:48 +0000http://mobilemeandering.com/?p=831Home networks typically have a WiFi access point and most of their files are handled offsite using a cloud drive. And if the homeowner is smart, they also use an online backup service to ensure they never lose precious family photos and documents. What’s usually missing is the ability to quickly share and store large […]

Home networks typically have a WiFi access point and most of their files are handled offsite using a cloud drive. And if the homeowner is smart, they also use an online backup service to ensure they never lose precious family photos and documents.

What’s usually missing is the ability to quickly share and store large files locally, without having to upload, sync and download to another computer or device. That includes local backups of your computer(s) and large files, like home videos, TV shows and movies that you would like to stream and play on your computer or TV.

In the past, you had to have dedicated equipment for each function. For example, if you wanted an entertainment server, you would have to set up Plex on a dedicated server. And if you wanted a file server, especially one that was redundant – using multiple drives in case of hard drive failure – you would have to set up a complicated and expensive RAID configuration.

The only thing you need to have now in order to have redundant file backups, an entertainment server and fast file sharing on your local network is a Drobo 5N2.

Local backups made easy

The Drobo 5N2 lets you use up to 5 hard drives, and they can be any size and make. The more hard drives you add to it, the more space you can use for your backups. This is great for homes that have two or more computers they need to backup over their network.

The most amazing feature of the Drobo is that in the unlikely case one of the hard drives goes bad, you can simply pull it out and you won’t lose any data. The entire system is redundant, and all you have to do is buy a new drive and stick it back in. Drobo will take care of the rest. There’s also a feature that enables double redundancy, which is what I use on my Drobo 5N2. That means I could have multiple drives fail, and still not lose any data!

Make Time Machine backups without a Time Capsule

Since my home network is made up entirely of Macs, the simplest way to backup my computers is to use Time Machine. Fortunately, Drobo supports Time Machine enabled network shares. That means I can allocate space on the Drobo for all of my computers’ Time Machine backups.

Drobo support Plex and several other apps

Drobo 5N2 doesn’t just provide redundant backups and a file server, it also supports popular apps and servers like ownCloud and Plex.

I run Plex on my Drobo so I can stream home videos, TV shows and movies to my iOS devices and my TV. Plex supports iOS and Android, and they even have an Apple TV app, which is awesome!

Everything you need to get setup

These are all the things I bought to set up the perfect network drive for my home with the Drobo 5N2:

5 Western Digital Red 3TB NAS hard drivesCheaper and better than what comes with typical Drobo 5N2 package deals.ℹ️ If you want faster NAS Hard Drives, consider buying the Western Digital Red Pro NAS hard drives. However, it’s important to note that not only are they more expensive, they are also a lot louder than the non-Pro line.

]]>Take my wallet, but don’t take my phonehttps://mobilemeandering.com/phone-security/
Sat, 10 Jan 2015 19:29:43 +0000http://mobilemeandering.com/?p=719It used to be that the worst thing you could lose was your wallet, but that’s no longer true. The (smart)phone has become the mobile epicenter of personal data and communication storage. Even more, it’s also become the primary method most services use to verify identity. In fact, 2-step verification almost solely relies on a […]

It used to be that the worst thing you could lose was your wallet, but that’s no longer true. The (smart)phone has become the mobile epicenter of personal data and communication storage. Even more, it’s also become the primary method most services use to verify identity. In fact, 2-step verification almost solely relies on a mobile phone for secondary verification.

If you don’t have your phone properly secured, a thief could easily gain access to your email and financial accounts. They can also use it to change your contact information and steal your identity.

Even more shocking, you don’t have to physically lose your phone to have it stolen!

How to fully secure your phone

Secure your wireless account – Before you do anything, you need to create an Account Password. Your Account Password is NOT your Online Account Password. The Account Password is a secondary password that is associated with your account, and it is typically created in person or over the phone. If you forget the password, you can only change it in person and must prove your identity. All major carriers support this, but it’s not activated by default, you have to request it. The main reason to do this is to keep people who have stolen your identity from porting your number to their account. This almost happened to me a couple years ago, but I was able to stop it just in time. Without this safeguard, it’s possible for a thief to steal your phone (number) without you ever losing your phone.

Create a more secure passcode – 4 Digit passcodes are not that secure, especially if the numbers could be easily guessed based on knowledge of your identity (dob, etc…). Choose the advanced passcode option on your phone and create one that either has many more numbers (to keep the entry faster) or even better, create one with numbers and letters. And thanks to fingerprint technology, like the kind found in the latest iPhones, the only time you’ll have to enter a complex password is when you shutdown and restart the phone.

Automatically erase data after failed login attempts – Don’t allow thieves the ability to try a ton of password attempts. Instead, make it so the data self-destructs after a series of failed attempts. You can turn this option on for an iPhone in Settings -> (Touch ID &) Passcode. Scroll to the bottom to turn it on. After 10 attempts, all personal data will be erased

Enable the ability to remote wipe your phone – If you’re an iPhone user, you can turn on Find My iPhone in the iCloud settings. This will enable you to not only find the physical location of your phone, but also remotely wipe it.

Require passcode immediately after locking phone – While this may sound inconvenient, it can save you from unauthorized access to your phone. Some people like the convenience of not requiring their passcode until after one to five minutes of turning off their phone’s screen. However, that leaves a window of time open for people to gain access to your phone. You should change your phone’s setting to lock it immediately after turning the screen off.

If you really care about your security and identity, then none of these items should be seen as optional. And while you’re at it, you should also add an automated VPN connection to your phone (and computer) too.

]]>How to secure macOS and iOS on a public WiFi networkhttps://mobilemeandering.com/secure-wifi-cloak/
Sat, 01 Nov 2014 00:00:06 +0000http://mobilemeandering.com/?p=679Public WiFi connections have become ubiquitous, but are they safe? There’s a very good chance many of them aren’t, which is why you really need to consider securing your MacBook, iPad or iPhone when connecting to them. Public WiFi Dangers There are several things to worry about when you connect to a public WiFi connection. […]

Public WiFi connections have become ubiquitous, but are they safe? There’s a very good chance many of them aren’t, which is why you really need to consider securing your MacBook, iPad or iPhone when connecting to them.

Public WiFi Dangers

There are several things to worry about when you connect to a public WiFi connection. Here are just a few of them. Afterwards, I’ll tell you how to protect yourself.

HTML Code Injection

Have you ever been at a hotel and suddenly seen an ad or information about the hotel appear in your browser? If you have, you experienced the WiFi network injecting code into your browser atop the content of the site you were visiting. Code injection over public WiFi networks is a very real thing.

Now imagine visiting a site that requests login information or some other personal information. Except in this case, code has been injected by the public WiFi network that puts a fake form over the real one. And when you enter your information into the form, you unsuspectingly just gave a criminal your data.

Fake WiFi Networks

It’s easy to trust connecting to a public WiFi network, especially when the network name looks familiar or trustworthy. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what some criminals are hoping for. They trick you into connecting and using their network, only to then use exploits to infect and/or steal data from your computer.

Packet Sniffing

When you connect to a public WiFi connection that’s not secure, other people on that connection can potentially intercept any unencrypted data that you send from your computer. That means any communication and text you send and receive could be read by a hacker.

Securing Your Public WiFi Connection Automatically

The best way to secure a public WiFi connection on your MacBook, iPad or iPhone is to use a virtual private network (VPN). VPNs create a secure, encrypted connection to a trusted network. In other words, VPNs create a secure tunnel through the public WiFi network and actually use the Internet connection at the end of the tunnel. That means the only thing a public WiFi network sees coming and going from your computer is encrypted data.

Unfortunately, there’s a problem with VPNs and Apple products. They’re difficult to setup and you have to manually turn it on when you want to use it. Fortunately, there’s a very elegant solution to that problem, called Encrypt.me (formerly named Cloak).

Encrypt.me is a very affordable service that automatically turns on a VPN whenever you connect to an untrusted public WiFi network. I’ve been using it for several months now, and all I can say is that it’s fast and magical!

When I connect to a public WiFi network on my MacBook Pro, Encrypt.me automagically secures my connection before any data is sent from my computer. It works with macOS’ Notification Center, and displays messages when it’s securing your connection.

Encrypt.me also runs in the menubar, which provides access to Preferences and the ability to turn it off and on.

Encrypt.me also makes an iOS app that also automagically secures public WiFi connections. Whenever I connect to a public WiFi network, I automatically get the VPN icon on the top bar of my iPhone and iPad.

]]>Stop ruining your iPhone!https://mobilemeandering.com/stop-ruining-your-iphone/
Mon, 29 Sep 2014 15:00:35 +0000http://mobilemeandering.com/?p=682What’s the first thing you do when you buy a new car? Do you immediately go out and buy a giant rubber bumper that wraps around the entire vehicle? Do you place a plastic protective shield over your windows? Of course you don’t. Your car is built to withstand harsh road conditions, the occasional bump […]

What’s the first thing you do when you buy a new car? Do you immediately go out and buy a giant rubber bumper that wraps around the entire vehicle? Do you place a plastic protective shield over your windows? Of course you don’t.

Your car is built to withstand harsh road conditions, the occasional bump from another car and will remain perfectly drivable if it gets scratched. The same is true for your iPhone. Yet, more than 90% of iPhone owners (I’m guesstimating here) immediately buy rubber cases and stick a protective plastic cover over their screen. All of which is completely unnecessary and ruins the aesthetics of a beautifully crafted device.

Can you imagine doing the same thing with your car? If you did, it would mean that you only get to see and use it as it was intended when you first purchase it and the day you sell it. All of the years in between are spent knowing there’s a sporty car underneath, but you’re too afraid to expose it to the elements. That’s no way to live your live, let alone the things you interact with on a daily basis.

Perhaps people think they need to protect their phone, because they still treat it like their old plastic Nokia. I have news for you, iPhones are not phones, they’re small mobile computers. They’re not made to be thrown around and treated like shit. But they are well made, so if you don’t treat them like a cheap toy, they’ll do just fine without the need for protective armor.

Stop treating your iPhone like a plastic throwaway Nokia. Treat it like a mobile computer, because that’s what it is. If you don’t want to carry around a mobile computer, buy a plastic Nokia from Cricket.

]]>The Best Portable iPhone Charger: BOLT + Nomadhttps://mobilemeandering.com/iphone-charger/
Sun, 20 Jul 2014 16:29:13 +0000http://mobilemeandering.com/?p=650Bolt Battery Backup and Wall Charger Kaboy8Kino1Ba1 I’ve spent years trying to find the best portable battery charger for my iPhone. I thought I had finally found the perfect solution a couple years ago when I started using the Zagg SPARQ. The wall plug was built into it, and its slim size made it easy […]

I’ve spent years trying to find the best portable battery charger for my iPhone. I thought I had finally found the perfect solution a couple years ago when I started using the Zagg SPARQ. The wall plug was built into it, and its slim size made it easy to fit in my bag (but not my pocket). While it worked, it was still a bit heavier and bulkier than I wanted. What I really wanted was something that was light and could stay in my pocket without bothering me.

I recently found what I’ve been looking for. It’s called BOLT and it’s made by a company named FLUXMOB.

The BOLT is light and tiny. It’s also about 1/3 the size of the SPARQ.

This is how big (or small) the BOLT is in my hand. It’s tiny!

One of the things that has bothered me with portable phone chargers in the past is the amount of time it takes to charge it. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered it only takes a few hours for the BOLT to get back to a full charge.

When you couple the BOLT with the Nomad keychain cable or clip, you have the perfect portable charger for your iPhone. I always keep my tiny NomadKey on my keychain and take the BOLT with me whenever I’m traveling.

]]>Chrome packaged apps pave way for future of browser-based computinghttps://mobilemeandering.com/chrome-offline-apps/
Sun, 21 Jul 2013 16:32:35 +0000http://mobilemeandering.com/?p=615Back in 2010 I randomly received a Google ChromeOS CR-48 Notebook (aka Chromebook). I reviewed the notebook and its OS and determined it was still far away from wide adoption. [ChromeOS] will require extreme maturation before becoming a viable alternative. Some of its biggest problems included the inability to layer or cascade windows, and it’s […]

Back in 2010 I randomly received a Google ChromeOS CR-48 Notebook (aka Chromebook). I reviewed the notebook and its OS and determined it was still far away from wide adoption.

[ChromeOS] will require extreme maturation before becoming a viable alternative.

Some of its biggest problems included the inability to layer or cascade windows, and it’s always connected requirement. For most users, it’s desirable for their apps to be self-contained. It’s also essential – at least from a practical standpoint – to be able to work offline.

A lot has changed since the Chromebook pilot program. Since then, Google released a high-end laptop called Chromebook Pixel. It came packed with a high resolution screen that was also touch enabled, but as we all know it’s the OS that matters the most. They updated it to include a dock-like bar for pinning apps, and they supported multiple windows so you could view different windows side-by-side. While the Pixel is no longer available, many other Chromebooks from other manufacturers are.

After you install either the Pocket or Wunderlist app for Chrome, it opens in its own self-contained window (think Fluid). The beauty of it is that it saves your data locally (aka offline). This is a huge step forward for ChromeOS.

It reminds me of the early days of Apple’s macOS. The biggest deterrent from switching from Windows was the lack of essential apps that could run on it. It took me until either version 10.1 or 10.2 before I was able to fully make the switch. It’s only a matter of time until powerful photo editing and productivity apps are packaged for offline use for ChromeOS. Once that happens, ChromeOS may actually stand a chance and potentially pull me away from Apple’s stronghold.

]]>Review of Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskinehttps://mobilemeandering.com/review-evernote-smart-notebook-moleskine/
Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:09:24 +0000http://mobilemeandering.com/?p=524The Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine is the perfect marriage of old school and new school technologies. I had been wondering for quite some time if Moleskine and Evernote would ever get together and make a product like this. So I was more than pleasantly surprised when Evernote announced their new Smart Notebook back in […]

The Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine is the perfect marriage of old school and new school technologies.

I had been wondering for quite some time if Moleskine and Evernote would ever get together and make a product like this. So I was more than pleasantly surprised when Evernote announced their new Smart Notebook back in August. Without even barely thinking about it, I immediately pre-ordered three of them!

It’s now October, and I finally got my hands on the new notebook!

Two Imperfect Technologies

Physical notebooks are not perfect. First, they are not digital, which means I can’t share and easily edit or append it. Second, there is only one copy, and that copy can be ruined. As in burned, lost, destroyed, etc…

Digital notebooks aren’t perfect either. First, using a stylus on a touch screen is hardly an ideal experience (yet). It’s usually too slow and doesn’t come close to mimicking the tactile experience of writing something down with pen or pencil. Second, storing and categorizing thoughts is a completely different experience when done digitally. Our minds can easily remember where we drew a sketch or jotted down notes in a physical notebook, but the user experience of digital notebooks provides a completely different paradigm of search and retrieval (both good and bad).

It would seem that combining both technologies into a symbiotic relationship would make the most sense, and indeed it does.

Perfecting Notetaking

The entire idea of the Smart Notebook is to keep the experience of using a Moleskine, while allowing those notes to be accessible at any time via Evernote.

The Evernote iOS app has been updated to support scanning pages from the Smart Notebook, and the service is supposed to recognize special stickers for organization and also perform OCR on the written text.

The stickers, which come with each notebook, can be used to automatically associate the note with a notebook folder and/or tag. Each sticker type can be customized however you want.

I set out to see if this was all too good to be true.

I filled out a page in the Moleskine notebook to give it a test drive and included a few of the stickers that came with the notebook. I also did my best to write legibly (although this is how I normally write anyways, in all caps). Then I used my iOS Evernote app on my iPhone 5 to take a picture and save the note.

I then opened Evernote on my Macbook Pro to review how it processed the image. The first thing I noticed is that it tagged the note perfectly based on the stickers I used.

The second thing I noticed was how accurate the OCR was. I did a search for the word “some” and it matched every word! This is truly amazing, because my writing style is not OCR friendly.

The next thing I checked was how customizable the smart stickers are. To customize the smart stickers, you have to go to the Settings in the iOS app. The options were as expected, providing me with the ability to adjust which notebook and tag I wanted the sticker to represent.

Overall, I’m very happy with the notebook. Although I haven’t used it on a daily basis yet, it’s definitely something I recommend people purchase and try out for themselves. The Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine is not a gimmick, it’s the real thing, and it intelligently marries the best of both worlds into one.

Pros

OCR is phenomenal

Stickers recognition works perfectly

Best of old school and new school technology

Provides redundancy for ideas (paper and digital backup)

Cons

Page view option doesn’t remain on when I take a picture in the iOS app. I have to turn it on every single time…annoying

Stickers are cute, but not ideal and may run out. I wish I could make (draw) my own icons that would be detected by Evernote.